I shuddered out a moan and arched my back, letting the rush of pleasure roll through as he eased off from pinching the nipples and switched to caressing my cupped breasts in each of his hands. “Yes, I’ll tell you,” I managed to gasp.

The green of his eyes seemed to flare once more at my agreement, the unmistakable gleam of triumph easy to see. I had pleased him very much, and the knowledge that I had done so switched on something inside me from which there could be no going back. This was a precipice and I’d just committed to going over the edge.

“And you want this with me, Gabrielle? You understand what your agreement means?”

I nodded slowly but deliberately, my heart surely on its way to flying out of my chest at the question, forcing me to acknowledge this thing we were starting together. We weren’t just hooking up for sex anymore. Things had morphed into something new. There was so much more to this than a few fabulous orgasms for the both of us.

“What’s your color right now, kitten?”

“Green.” I felt a ripple of longing set free inside me as I answered him, remembering something he’d said to me earlier: Don’t shut your eyes. I need to see those green beauties on me when you say yes.

So, I kept my eyes on him as I gave him my agreement.

My soul felt free for the first time in longer than I could recall.

Chapter 2

GABRIELLE

Oh yes, an exchange of power was a great deal more, and then some. Especially when it was Ivan demanding it from me, knowing I was powerless to resist. He’d caught me now. My secret was no longer a secret to him. Rather, it was a bargaining chip between us. A negotiation tool for what we could offer to each other.

The potential of what it might mean for me to head back into territory that had been influential in a disastrous relationship which had left me emotionally devastated and adrift in my life. The D/s hadn’t been the reason for my messed up history with Kent, but it’d definitely been a contributing factor in the poor decisions I’d made with him… and sadly tragic for others, I thought shamefully.

I truly didn’t know if I was capable of delving into another D/s relationship and survive. A mysterious question to which I couldn’t know the answer… until I did.

The circumstances were totally different with Ivan though. He was single. Yeah, a single guy who orders up an escort when he wants a date. Ugh. I didn’t like those thoughts swimming around in my head, but I couldn’t judge Ivan any more harshly than what I’d been party to with Kent. My deeds had been far worse.

Could I do this with him?

You want to.

I knew now I was about to find out.

The idea scared me as much as it excited me. No, that probably wasn’t true. It excited me more.